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22nd
September 2013 - Proper 20 - Revd. Preb Maureen Hobbs |
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Sermon for Proper
20, Trinity 17 - Morning
Amos 8. 4-7
Luke 16. 1-13
I happened to be listening to an edition of 'Any Questions?'
on my way back to Pattingham on Friday - I frequently do! And
near the end the audience were asked an interesting question
which I might repeat here this morning. Given the publicity that
has surrounded the welfare reforms of the Coalition Govt., how
many of you consider it to be ' a bedroom tax' and how many a
'spare-room subsidy'. Let's see, shall we?
Bedroom Tax? Spare Room Subsidy? (for the sake of fairness) Don't
knows?
How you view this issue might well depend on where you start
from.
It can be seen as a just way to persuade people to move from
social housing that is too big for their immediate needs - freeing
that up for people who are currently living in overcrowded conditions.
It can also be seen as an oppressive action towards the poor.
Forcing them to abandon the homes they know and love, and without
the proper provision of reasonable alternatives .... for we know
that there are very few smaller properties available often into
which such people could move.
And is honesty always the best policy?... it would seem from
our Gospel this morning that maybe not always, is the answer....
Yet again, the prophet Amos is very hard on those who "trample
on the needy and bring ruin to the poor of the land". So
what is the message we are meant to take away with us this week
and into our daily lives?
It is natural enough to always want to explain away the parables;
to render them 'safe' and understandable. But faith in the Risk-taking
God is seldom 'safe' or 'comfortable' and sometimes perhaps we
have to stay with the disquieting and disturbing teaching of
Jesus, just to see where it is challenging us.
I have used before the Anthony de Mello story of a man getting
onto a bus in India and sitting down next to a young man wearing
just one shoe. "I see you have lost a shoe" the man
says compassionately to the youth beside him. "Oh no".
The young man replies with a grin - "I have found a shoe!"
It all depends, you see, on where you start from....
Just a little way back from this morning's Gospel we have the
story of the Prodigal Son - and we all know that is about God's
willingness to forgive when we turn back and acknowledge our
shortcomings. But even this story may be more subversive than
we at first realise... it has been pointed out that although
the prodigal son "comes to himself" when he is tempted
to eat the pods he is giving to the pigs, there is little to
suggest that he is actually repentant or sorry for the behaviour
that has led him to such reduced circumstances. His reasons for
setting off home with his rehearsed speech are calculated and
prudential. Much like the steward in our story this morning,
he had come to a crisis point and he had to act quickly and with
skill to avoid a disaster. And in fact he receives his forgiveness
without even having to go through his rehearsed lines.
And in that, we can all recognise points in our own lives where
we have come to a crisis and where something has to be done,
quickly and decisively; when we feel we face catastrophe unless
we act fast. Organisations and individuals today spend a lot
of time and energy developing a crisis management plan and the
insurance industry has been quick to pick up on 'key worker insurance'
or 'critical illness insurance' to pick up on just such eventualities.
It has been said that the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis
Management is probably on the desk of every bishop!
In our dread of the unforeseen crisis, we can identify with the
actions of the dishonest steward for we are all - or have been
- in his shoes. Sometimes we feel quite overwhelmed with fear
- be it a global flu epidemic, an act of terror such as that
which occurred on 9/11, environmental catastrophe - just think
of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, or the banking crisis of a few
years ago. Our terror of these imminent situations should make
us take this disconcerting tale to heart.
The experts say that there are four stages to crisis management.
First comes identification of the problem, then a response to
it must be planned, the crisis must be confronted and then, and
only then can it be resolved. In our Gospel reading we can easily
see all four steps being taken in turn. The man may have cheated
and lied, but that is not actually the point. What matters is
that he does not lose his nerve when he encounters a disaster
about to overtake him. He responds to the crisis quickly and
effectively, and for that - and not for his dishonesty - he is
commended.
Near the beginning of Luke's Gospel we hear of how John the Baptist
had issued a stark warning of imminent doom... "The axe
is raised and about to fall". If we have anything approaching
the common sense of the 'dishonest steward' we will also "flee
from the wroth to come," as Luke tells us in Ch 3. But the
closing verses of the Gospel warn us that if we are to make our
get away speedy and effective, we may need to ditch some of our
accompanying baggage! We will not be able to move quickly enough
if overloaded with the goods of this world.
So this morning, as we reflect perhaps on the crises that may
be awaiting each of us in our different lives, are we going to
be able to react with the speed and the good sense that will
keep us out of trouble? Of course, it may all depend on where
you start from!
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22nd
September 2013 - Evening - Revd. Preb Maureen Hobbs |
Sermon
for Proper 20 - Trinity 17 - Evening
Ezra 1
John 7. 14-36
I often find myself unable to recognise the God and the Jesus
whom I know and love in the depictions of certain celebrity atheists.
Whether it is Richard Dawkins - who I can admire as a scientist
but who I think has a totally warped and simplistic view of religion;
or someone like Stephen Fry - who I find amusing and cultured,
very intelligent but with a mind that is closed to the wonderful
mystery that is God.
Of course what these people are more often objecting to is the
sort of religion that they have encountered - and I can quite
appreciate that - since this is all too often a very human construct,
it fails to do justice to the God that I find in Scripture and
prayer.
And I think this was something that Jesus fought against too
in his time here on earth - although the intelligentsia of his
day and time were not so cynical as those of today.
But he frequently seems to have encountered religious pedants
who were very keen to quote the Law to him, but less ready to
use some compassion and common sense as to how that was applied.
It is the character of Mr Bumble the Parish Beedle in Oliver
Twist who, when he hears that he is to be held responsible for
the actions and words of his wife, exclaims "if the Law
supposes, that, then the Law is a Ass!" and we have probably
all felt that from time to time. You can look at Law in two ways.
Either it is there to enable you to do something - conferring
rights, enhancing human dignity, giving freedom of expression
and association; or it is there to stop you from doing something
- restricting our freedom to act or speak, robbing us of our
hard earned money in taxation (unless we are rich enough to avoid
paying taxes of course!) It can all seem very frustrating.
But of course, most laws are made to protect people and enable
ordinary life to go on. If there were no speed limits and nothing
to stop you driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs,
then far more people would be killed on our roads, which would
soon become blocked with crashed cars! If nobody paid any taxes,
then our civilisation would simply fall apart.... No rubbish
collected, no teachers for our children, no NHS! And while we
may think it not perfect, not many of us want to abolish it,
just make it work more effectively.
Jesus in the second passage we heard this evening is highlighting
two different attitudes to the Law of Moses - a law or laws given
to the people to help them grow into the nation God knows they
can be; not to stop them enjoying themselves in the same way
that other nations do.
Jesus is also harking back to events that have happened a short
while before, when he healed the cripple at the pool of Bethesda
on a Sabbath day and told the man to pick up his bedding and
walk - expressly against the Sabbath laws about what may and
may not be undertaken on holy days... So he asks, "what
is the purpose of the law?" is it to affirm and enhance
human existence, or just stop them doing things? And how can
it possibly be against the spirit of God's purposes to help someone
to live a whole and healthy life, after a lifetime of illness
and pain?
To make the point he takes the example of circumcision. In order
to keep the law of Moses, a baby boy will be circumcised on the
eighth day after his birth, regardless of whether that day is
a Sabbath or not. In other words, something that looks like it
breaks the law, has to be done, even on that day, to make sure
that one tiny part of a baby's body conforms to God's will for
his chosen people. Now, supposing it is possible to make a person's
entire being well and whole on the Sabbath, surely that is even
more in keeping with God's will for his children?
And in the background is the regular accusation that Jesus made
of his contemporaries, that they were using God's law to try
and convince themselves that they really were his chosen people,
even if, in fact they regularly broke certain aspects of it.
They may be insistent upon the Sabbath law but are willing to
consider killing him for infringing it, even though this goes
expressly against the 10 commandments. How can that be what Moses,
or indeed God intended?
The reaction to all this is confused as we might expect. Some
think he is holy - others that he is possessed. And they get
round it by casting doubt on his claim to be the Messiah - as
they are all aware of his origins, where the Messiah was thought
to be one who would appear mysteriously out of nowhere ... not
be a brash northerner with suspect sabbath manners!
As so often, Jesus turns their criticism of him around. Their
ignorance is not just about where the Messiah will come from,
but their ignorance is of the very nature of God himself - so
of course they cannot recognise Jesus for who he is!
Which is the same challenge we are left with today.... we do
not understand enough about God and keep trying to remake him
in our own image, rather than study the evidence of scripture
and reason. And because we have faulty ideas about God and religion,
so we draw false conclusions about Jesus and his message.
We, the church, God's people, need to look for fresh understandings
of who God is - and is not - for us in our own generation - and
if we really look at the person of Jesus, we may begin to get
that understanding. That is the right way round. And the challenge
is often needed just as much inside the church as in society
at large.
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